A Perfect Ending
by Novelizer
Summary: In the end she chooses life, she chooses to be alone, but somehow friendship finds her once more. (ONE-SHOT based on what a friend and I thought would be a perfect ending to the game.)


Choosing between life, and death...Being with those you have loved forever, but have lost to the eternal afterlife. Or being alive, of loving those who still exist on the mortal plane to feel and be loved back. To grow old, and have children. To die on the cusp of a full life with family surrounding and eternal happiness. It isn't an easy choice. Here, in the Beyond, the world seems brighter. But life... To live and grow old is truly what she wants.

Its so simple, Jodie understands it all now.

There's no reason she shouldn't return to her life, where everyone is waiting for her. Where the world is waiting for her, depending on her to be there for it has she has been in the past and will be in the future. Even if she is alone to be there for the world - well, she'll damn well try her best to help it out. With one last sparing glance at the Beyond, where her lost loved ones smile happily, she crosses the line back into the world of the living.

Back into Ryan's arms.

But something is missing. The feeling tugging at her gut the second she returns. Something that breaks her heart and pulls it away from her body to live in the Beyond. Aiden, _her brother_, he's gone now. As if the tether had never in the first place existed. And she's both been dreaming and dreading this day, since the very first time that Aiden made his presence known. And it _hurts_ like hell to think of him as being gone. So it can't be true then, he has to be playing a game.

"_Aiden?"_ Jodie pushes Ryan off, looking around the desolate room in sheer panic. Whatever this game is, it isn't funny and she wants him to stop. "_AIDEN?"_ her panic mounts, as the moment of realization dawns on her. He's really _gone!_ Then the pain, hitting her full force in the gut. Dropping her to her knees where she wails her sorrows to anyone who will listen. Aiden is gone, he's fucking gone and there's nothing she can do now. She's dreamt of this day, she's dreaded this day, and presently, she wishes this day would simply go away. But even as she does that, closing her eyes in mock prayer, each opening of her eyes brings more disappointment.

And more tears.

Months pass by in her solitary prison of memories and pain. She finds herself crying daily, missing Aiden with every fiber of her being but also being glad that he is not there to witness her falling to pieces. Missing everyone else too, Ryan, Jay, Cole, the homeless...Nathan, and hell she could even say with certainty she misses those bastards who pretended to be her parents for a short while.

The sights, the sounds, and the smells a mess of missing puzzle pieces that never seem to fit just right. She spent too much time there, in the Beyond, trying to decide where she wanted her life to go and its taking a toll on her body. Draining her memory day by day and night by night. Until all that's left are pieces of notebook paper to detail what's happened to her.

Through it all she mourns for Aiden, her mother Norah, Shimesani, and Paul whom she left on the other side. Whom she could have stayed with but left to see her life play out. Sometimes she wishes she could go back, and choose to be with them. To be with _Aiden_ still. And she knows he was sad too when she chose life, because it meant they couldn't be together. Couldn't play eternally in the land of spirits and be the brother and sister they should have been, with Norah and all who have loved them both at their sides. Soon to be joined by more and more, until everyone at last would be with them.

The decision is hard, because she's spent so much time Alone already that she isn't sure what to choose. Her burdens weigh heavy and she doesn't want anyone else to carry them. She can't make a normal life for herself now, too much has happened and so to has too little happened to allow her to lead a normal life. She misses everyone, but life without Aiden in it isn't living for her.

So she decides to be Alone.

Taking to the streets and hitchhiking her way across the US. Doing what she can and when she can for those in need. Making new friends, and enemies along the way.

"Still here."

Her breath stops, eyes wide, and a smile playing fully on her lips. Jodie is in a motel now, resting for the night. At first, she thought an entity was haunting this particular motel, but now she doesn't much believe that to be true. "Aiden?" She whispers, looking around the room in clear astonishment. He isn't tethered to her anymore, but she can _feel_ him in the air around her. "Shit, I'm so glad to see you." Tears fill her eyes. For the first time since those beginning three months she cries joyful tears. Knowing that nothing can tear them apart now.

And since he's back now, she can start living again.

Its still hard, and for a while they have a rocky start of getting things back in order. Jodie moves in with Ryan, who welcomes her with open arms and a love so strong it has transcended death even, for a sparse few moments. And keeps in regular contact with her other friends as well. Regularly visiting Stan, Tuesday, Jimmy, Walter, and little Zoey; Whose own powers seem to day-by-day be growing in quite nicely under the guidance of Jodie and Aiden. Even Jay visits sometimes, though not as often and only to express friendship towards Jodie. Ryan at first was Jelous of the Navajo, but soon came to form his own kind of friendship with him and his brother.

Things Went smoothly from then on out.

But...

In the night Jodie's dreams haunt her. Nightmares of a far off future with Zoey and her fighting off something unnatural. When Pandora's Box is opened, and the world is sucked into the depths of its hell. These nightmares both motivate and scare her, which is why she has began training Zoey so quickly. Things will soon come to a head, and she wants to be as prepared as possible for the end of the world.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys, I just wanted to give a little view of how my Perfect Ending would have been. Thanks for reading, please review and tell me what you think!


End file.
